Cakewalk to Publish Sonar X Mackie Control Surface!

[bitSync]

Cakewalk is planning to publish the Sonar X Mackie control surface as well as a API for access to the more esoteric features of the user interface. Pretty cool.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/Mackie-Contro ... 08006.aspx

[Marc Girard]

Very cool, I tried to get in touch with Mackie, even had an address for higher management, NOBODY knows anything about the MCU protocol documentation, I wonder how the folks at Steinberg at others had access to the official Mackie documentatiion... If Sonar can help it, that's great news!

[bitSync]

Very cool, I tried to get in touch with Mackie, even had an address for higher management, NOBODY knows anything about the MCU protocol documentation, I wonder how the folks at Steinberg at others had access to the official Mackie documentatiion... If Sonar can help it, that's great news!

As I understand it, builders of DAWs (Steinberg, etc.) who wanted a tight interface with the MCP engaged with Mackie management and if Mackie felt it was in their best interests (i.e., non-competitive with their MCU) then the DAW builder would enter into a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with Mackie and then get the MCP specification so their DAW fully supported the MCU. But if you were building something that competes with the MCU (like another controller), the only way you were going learn about the MCP was to sniff it and document it. This leaves a little bit of mystery in the interface, mostly at initialization, relegating builders of competing interfaces to using an incomplete (sniffed) specification.

The Logic Control protocol is pretty close to MCP, but not identical. I'm anxious to see how Cakewalk are going to publish this without bumping into their NDA with Mackie. But if they do publish it this may help refine the D8Bridge initialization with the MCP and hopefully resolve any lingering interface secrets.

[bitSync]

Just announced by Cakewalk -

http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/2993349

There's another thread in here on the same topic -

http://www.d8bforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1109

[bitSync]

An update here -

http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3012143